Legacy Awakened

by Tamar Sloan

  Pakak’s tail twitches. Although the words wouldn’t make sense, they’d be familiar, and they capture her essence. Then it wags just a little.

  And then she’s bounding forward, straight past Hunter, and out into the wild. With a last look back, she lopes after her brothers.

  A sigh slips past my grin. Their thread stretches and stretches as she moves away, but I know it’s one that will never be broken. Hunter watches her leave, his back straight, arms by his side. He looks like a general watching his unit disperse now that the war is over. I half expect him to salute her.

  When he turns to look back at me, I see something I haven’t seen before and I catch my breath, startled. Hunter is smiling. It seems to short-circuit my brain. Flashing white teeth, lips molded into a gorgeous arch, it’s his eyes that have my heart stopping. Glowing and copper, they’re alive with light.

  I find my grin morphing into something else. A gentler, happier version that can only be a mirror of what Hunter is holding on his face. A feeling that only seems to add to his.

  I vaguely register Dawn stepping around me. “Well done, Hunter. She just needed a nudge.”

  For the first time, it’s my turn to blink first. I yank my gaze away from the beauty that is Hunter smiling, glancing at Dawn. She’s making it sound like she knew that all along.

  Dawn wraps an arm around my shoulder. “Ava was right.”

  I flush, one, because of the praise, but two, for thinking like that about Dawn. This is the woman who has dedicated her life to wolves the minute they were threatened.

  Hunter strides back to the truck, throwing me a glance that still holds traces of his smile. “Hope she doesn’t get like Riley when you say that to her.”

  Dawn squeezes my shoulder. “You wouldn’t quote that every day for the next six months, would you?”

  With a cheeky grin at both of them, I shrug. “I think four months will probably be enough.”

  There’s a chuckle from Hunter, but I don’t get to see his face because he’s already standing beside the crate that Pakak left not long ago. “Let’s get packed up then, shall we?”

  Muscles bulging in a way that’s hard to look away from, he lifts each of the crates singlehandedly back onto the truck. This time, he stacks the third onto the other two. I’m so gobsmacked at the show of strength that he’s done it before I get to offer a hand. Rushing forward, cheeks pink thanks to more than just the cold, I grab the straps and pass them to him.

  “Thanks.” His glance is brief, and I get the sense the word is loaded.

  I bring back the smile that had bloomed just a moment ago. Remembering I’m trying to have a little pride, I swallow the ‘anytime’ that was just born on my tongue. “Sure.”

  Next, Hunter unhitches the trailer from the quad and attaches it to the back of the truck. Dawn looks at him questioningly.

  Hunter scratches the back of his head. “I’m going to stay here for a bit longer, just to keep an eye out.”

  Which is exactly what I did when Achak and his litter were released. Not seeing them was just as reassuring, because it meant they hadn’t returned.

  I wonder if he’s going to look at me—even the briefest glance I’d take as an invite to stay with him. We even shared that smile only minutes ago.

  But Hunter turns his back and heads to the quad. Leaning against it, he crosses his arms as he gazes out in the direction the wolves disappeared.

  Dawn climbs in the truck and starts the engine, but Hunter doesn’t turn around.

  The Ava of the past few days would stay behind, despite the signals Hunter is giving off. Ava who has some pride and a whole lot of sense would climb in that truck too.

  I walk over to the door and pull it open. The metal creaks and crunches. Still, Hunter stays where he is.

  Well, I have my answer. The smile meant nothing. The progress was imaginary.

  I decide there and then, to be the Ava I want to be.

  Ava

  It’s only when the truck is rumbling away that Hunter turns around. I see him glance at first, surreptitiously, but then he turns around, arms falling to his side.

  I smile at him. “I decided to stay too.”

  Blink. Blink again.

  I hold my hand up. “There’s no point frowning now.”

  Hunter’s lips twitch as he shakes his head. “With that sort of tenacity, I’m glad you’re on the wolves’ side.”

  I walk around to the other side of the quad bike, leaning against it and crossing my arms just like he did. “I stayed around after we released the last lot at Jacksonville.”

  Hunter stares out ahead. There’s no longer any sign of the three white wolves. “Just to make sure they don’t come back.”

  “Exactly.”

  He glances back at me. “How did they go?”

  I feel my face soften as I remember. “They were a wonderful success. They acclimatized beautifully.”

  Hunter looks back out again. “So they all survived?”

  “They did.” The pang twists in my chest again. “Except for one who escaped after he was cured from the Furious virus.”

  Hunter moves closer. “He escaped?”

  “Yeah. Jumped the fence somehow. My parents think he may have used a nearby rock to launch himself.”

  Hunter seems to still for a second. “That’s one determined wolf.” He leans on the other side of the quad. “No-one’s seen him?”

  I look away, deciding the tundra is probably safer to look at right now. “Nope. No one.”

  “He was important to you.”

  I shrug. “They all are.”

  “But this one, he was special.”

  Surprised at his perceptiveness, I glance back. “I helped raise Achak after their mother died. He was the sweetest, wildest wolf I’ve ever met.”

  Hunter arches a brow. “But you bonded because you didn’t give up?”

  I narrow my eyes at him. “I’m known to be patient.”

  Hunter snorts as he looks forward again. “Poor guy never stood a chance.”

  I have to stop my breath from sucking in. It’s words like that, the fact that Hunter is standing right beside me like we have these casual chats all the time, that makes me glad I chose to stay.

  Silence settles between us, but it’s not an awkward one. It feels comfortable, natural…familiar.

  Could Hunter, despite it all, be my white wolf?

  I stare straight ahead as I decide it’s time to get some answers. “There’s something centering about being out here. It’s so isolated, but you don’t feel alone.”

  I sense him glance at me, but I don’t look at him. There’s a pause and I wonder if he’s going to answer.

  “There’s nothing like it.”

  I nod. “I can see why you love it.” I shoot a glance from the corner of my eye. Hunter is looking at the horizon again. “I would imagine staying awake night after night would be hard though. No company, no distractions.”

  This is the question I’ve been wanting to ask for so long. Maybe Hunter saw me in his dreams too. That would explain his look when we first saw each other. He looked like he recognized me.

  I swear I sense him tense. “You don’t sleep when you’re on patrol.”

  Oh. “You never dozed off without meaning too?”

  “No.”

  Right. That one word hurts more than I expected. “Did you ever get lonely?”

  Hunter frowns. He’s definitely not relaxed anymore. “Not really.”

  “But everyone needs someone.” I haven’t met a person who doesn’t have threads tying them to another.

  He pushes away, dusting down his jeans in short, sharp movements. “Apparently my imagination was able to keep me company.”

  What in the world does that mean? Despite the we’re-done-here vibes, I decide I’m not going to let this go. This is too important.

  I open my mouth to ask—

  A crack stings through the evening air. It has my heart leaping and my body freezing. Hunter is beside m
e before I’ve had a chance to blink.

  I look around. “That was—”

  Hunter is scanning the horizon, eyes narrow, body on high alert. “A gunshot.”

  The images of the northern wolves, naked and bloody, flash through my mind.

  Poachers.

  My hand flies to my mouth. “Oh god, the wolves!”

  Hunter is on the quad in one swift movement. He turns to me, eyes fierce with determination. “Wait here.”

  I’m already shaking my head. “I’m going with you.”

  “I’m not taking you closer to where that came from, Ava.”

  My mouth snaps shut on the retort that was ready to go. It’s because I’m not a Were. Right now, with a poacher out there, I’m little more than a fragile human. I look away. For some reason, that’s always been an inescapable fact.

  He spears his fingers through his hair. “Dammit. Why didn’t you leave with Dawn?”

  Like his body language told me to. If we had time, those words would probably sting, adding to the prick of pain that has already established in my chest. I take a step back. “To be honest, I’m not really sure.”

  Jaw working, Hunter looks away. With a growl of frustration, he leaps off the bike again. “I’ll be back.”

  Before I have time to respond, Hunter breaks into a sprint. Disappearing down the rise, he shifts. In a blur of white I don’t have time to process, he’s off in the direction of the released wolves.

  I wrap my arms around myself, watching him run. Please let them be okay.

  The second gunshot has me ducking reflexively. I’m pretty sure it came from the east and my hunch is confirmed when Hunter turns right. Gosh, he’s fast. Powering over the tundra, he’s a machine of muscle and speed. Even at a distance, you can see the determination etched in each powerful stride, in the unwavering direction. Within moments he’s disappeared around the base of a hill, just like the others did.

  Although what’s he going to do when he finds them?

  Oh no. What if he comes across the poacher?

  I’m on the quad, desperately scanning the control within a blink, I’ve turned the ignition before I can draw a breath, then I’m frantically flicking switches to the same rapid beat of my heart as I try to get this thing going. I’ve seen Hunter do this. I’ve studied his movements like a girl trying to get some answers. Surely I can figure this out.

  When the bike lurches forward, I almost lose my grip. Instead, I tighten every single muscle and accelerate. The quad jerks again and speeds up. I can feel my hair fan out behind me as I angle the machine in the same direction as Hunter.

  Jolting over the terrain, my heart thunders and my eyes scan the horizon. We can’t afford to lose these wolves, and I know without a doubt that Hunter will do anything to keep them safe.

  Well, he’s not going to do it alone.

  Powering forward, I can’t see Hunter, nor have I heard any more gunshots. I don’t know whether that’s a good thing or not.

  The land slowly creeps up hill here, rounding around the mountain. The cold stings my face making me catch my breath, but I don’t slow down. I need to find them.

  As I scan for wolves or people or Were the quad bounces as it hits a depression, then spikes as it hits a rock. It’s a battle to keep the bike steady as I land with a jolt and the bike swerves. My already thundering heartbeat becomes a roar in my ears. The closer I come to the mountain, the rockier and more uneven the ground. But Hunter got here moments ago, and so much can happen in a moment. I can’t afford to slow down.

  Except I have no idea where I’m going. I followed a Were and a sound that are now gone. I have no Were scent that I can track with, no Were hearing to pause and listen with.

  But I do have the threads.

  The moment I think it, they appear. Two gossamer connections that disappear around the mountain base. Which means they must be together. Like I’m some adrenalin junkie, I accelerate some more. I don’t have time to be worried about crashing.

  I head a little more north, following the ribbon of light. The land dips down, probably into a bog, so I finally slow. As the landscape appears I brake hard. Hunter is in human form, kneeling just a few yards away.

  Kneeling over the body of a wolf.

  The quad squeals and slides to a halt and I leap off, heart lodged high in my throat. Please, please, please…

  Hunter doesn’t say a word at my arrival, and when I tumble to my knees beside him, I realize why. It’s Kayuh laid out before him, and Kayuh is no longer all white. Crimson red spreads across his snowy fur. Hunter is leaning over him, his hands deep in the ruff of his neck, the place where the blood seems the most concentrated.

  My stomach pitches in my chest and the taste of bile stings my throat. Not Kayuh.

  “You need to do something.” Hunter’s voice is hoarse. Desolation has wiped his face of any other emotion as he stares at the wolf he protected from before he was born.

  I collapse to my knees beside him. Kayuh is motionless, but then I see the feather-light panting that flickers over his chest. “He’s alive?”

  “Barely.” Hunter looks up at me, eyes pleading so hard it breaks my heart. “You need to help him.”

  Oh god. Hunter thinks I can heal him?

  I reach out shaking hands, fingers hovering over the blood-soaked fur. “I don’t…”

  “The bastard shot him. Twice.” Hunter’s forearms flex, his hands trying to stop the bleeding. “I got here just as he was about to…”

  Hunter looks away, his head coming down to wipe his forearm on his sleeve. I have no idea how I’m going to tell him this.

  “Hunter, I can’t—”

  “Just try, Ava!”

  The anguish and agony in Hunter’s voice slices through me. I know I have to give it a shot.

  Tapping into the thread that connects me to Kayuh, I close my eyes. My hands move down of their own volition, sinking into warm, sticky fur. In the dark behind my eyelids, the thread is a shimmering, fragile being that takes my breath away. I blend into it in a way I’ve never been able to explain, feeling how weak it really is.

  It confirms what I saw on Hunter’s face—Kayuh is close to death.

  I push as much life as I can into our connection. I channel it with every fiber of my being. Tensing my whole body like I can somehow hold onto him, I strain to concentrate. I’m not letting this one go.

  “You can do this, Ava.”

  Hunter’s words filter in, a mantra that I hope is true. Wanting to do this for him as much for Kayuh, I hunch down, pouring everything I can into the barely breathing body I’m holding.

  The thread blooms with life and my heart lifts. I feel Kayuh pull in the deepest breath since I found him and Hunter. It’s working?

  But then the thread thins and thins again, like its being stretched and stretched and stretched. No! I feel like I’m going to explode, I put so much intensity into feeding life into this wolf.

  Except it doesn’t help. It does nothing.

  I know the second he’s gone, because the stretched-thin thread snaps, all the precious life-force flowing out without a body to hold it.

  My eyes shoot open. “No!”

  “No, no, no.” Hunter’s words are a chant of pain as his shoulders cave in. He sits there, like the grief is too much to carry.

  I watch as the shimmery fluid that no-one else can see seeps out like a vein has been severed and sink into the ground. My shocked brain watches it be slowly absorbed.

  Not Kayuh.

  Not another one.

  My bloody hands fall to my sides. “I’m so sorry, Hunter.”

  Hunter pushes back so fast, I startle. He takes a few steps to the puddle of melted snow not far away and starts to wash the blood from his hands. I wait, but he doesn’t say anything.

  With no more words, I stand too, suddenly sick at the sight of my red hands. The smell of copper, the sight of crimson, the feel of it tightening my skin as it dries becomes overwhelming. I’m beside Hunter in a flash, scru
bbing away the harsh evidence of my failure.

  When I’m done, Hunter is back standing beside Kayuh, staring down at the bloodied body. I stay where I am, my legs lacking the strength to move. I don’t need more irrefutable proof of the loss of life. I just got to see and feel it.

  Curling my legs up, I’m about to sink my head into my arms when a flash of light catches my gaze. Frowning, I look closer. Silver is an alien color in the muted hues of the tundra. I pick up the knife, taking in the wooden handle and the stunted, curved blade. I lift it up to find Hunter watching me.

  “The coward dropped it the minute he saw me.”

  My frown deepens. “He was going to finish him off?”

  “No, Ava.” Hunter’s ferocious gaze pins me. “That’s a skinning knife.”

  The knife drops from my numb hand, clunking to the ground. A skinning knife. He was going to skin Kayuh before he was dead?

  Bile, hot and bitter, hits my throat, but I swallow it down. I’ve shown enough weakness today as it is. Denial tries to gain some momentum, but Hunter must see it on my face because he’s already shaking his head.

  “He would have done it and the bastard wouldn’t have blinked.” His hands spear into his hair. “It was the same guy, Ava.”

  “What?” I stand, confused.

  “The guy who shot Kayuh was the one who shot my dad.”

  “But, that was almost two years ago.”

  “He was wearing the exact same parka as the guy who shot my dad.”

  I gasp. Stepping forward, I want to touch him, but know that I won’t. Hunter doesn’t need me pushing his comfort zones right now. “Are you sure?”

  His eyes are burnished pools of anguish. “It’s not something I’m ever going to forget. Not many people wear red out here. He was there for one reason.”

  To kill wolves.

  My hand flutters by my side, yearning for contact. “He didn’t know, Hunter.” There’s no way that man would have shot the wolf if he knew Weres existed.

  Hunter licks his lips, eyes narrowing. “I’m not sure it matters anymore.”

  This time my breath sucks in and stays there. I know he’s lost so much, but surely he’s not saying what I think he’s saying. What would have happened if he’d come across this poacher? “Hunter…”